Carbon monoxide exposure at Boulder's Evol Foods sends 6 to hospital

Company resumes production as incident under investigation

Paramedic Dave Kabal asks an Evol employee if she has a headache after being evacuated this morning because of high carbon monoxide levels in the building. (MARK LEFFINGWELL)

Six employees were treated at area hospitals Monday morning after high carbon-monoxide levels forced the evacuation of Boulder-based Evol Foods' production facilities at 1845 Range St.

Police, fire and medical crews responded at 8:09 a.m. Monday after workers at the building began feeling ill, according to Boulder police spokeswoman Kim Kobel.

The building was evacuated and tests showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide. Medics on scene tested about 70 people for carbon-monoxide exposure, and six adults were transported to local hospital.

"We are so pleased that all of our employees are safe," said Steve Hughes, CEO of Evol parent company Boulder Brands, in a prepared statement. "The six EVOL employees taken to the hospital were evaluated, monitored and then sent home earlier today."

Kobel said investigators suspect the elevated carbon-monoxide levels were the result of the rechargeable batteries on Evol's forklifts, which give off some gas when they are being charged.

Hughes said the cause of the carbon-monoxide poisoning "was addressed promptly and corrected," without elaborating. Production was suspended for part of the day, but has resumed.

Evol Foods manufactures frozen burritos and a line of other frozen food products.

Police closed parts of Range Street, Commerce Street and Western Avenue during the medical operation, according to dispatchers.

Caroline Hughes, a spokeswoman for Boulder Brands, said the incident is being investigated by the company.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story